Published May 20, 2026 04:34AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In 2018, a grizzly bear attacked hunter Anders Broste during a routine hunting trip just a few miles from his home near Columbia Falls, Montana. Broste told <\/em>Outside what it\u2019s like to survive a grizzly attack, and the lessons he\u2019ll forever carry with him into the backcountry.<\/em><\/p>\n I never thought I\u2019d come face-to-face with a grizzly bear in the wild.<\/p>\n When I did, it was a clear, November day in 2018 along the foothills of the Whitefish Range, a 76-mile-long mountain chain stretching from British Columbia, Canada, into northwestern Montana. Six inches of snow had fallen the night before, and I could see my breath with every exhale.<\/p>\n My friend Dan and I were going out for a quick, early morning elk hunt. I was fully aware that I was in bear country, but I play in this neck of the woods all the time. The foothills are my backyard, about five miles from my back door. I had even made plans to ski with my wife later in the day. But a routine hunting trip showed me the brutal reality of wilderness survival. Since first moving to Montana nine years earlier, I\u2019d only come across a grizzly twice.<\/p>\n My hunting partner, Dan, split off from me so we could cover more ground\u2013I had been in the area two weeks earlier and knew exactly where I wanted to look for elk. During the earlier trip, I had packed bear spray, but I forgot to bring my canister this time.<\/p>\n After Dan departed, I was on my own. I don\u2019t know what prompted me to turn around\u2014maybe I heard branches break\u2014but when I looked over my shoulder, I saw a grizzly bear barreling at me from less than 100 feet away. Time froze, and my thoughts slowed down. Should I fire my rifle? No, there\u2019s not enough time to get your glove off and finger on the trigger.<\/em> I grabbed my firearm and shoved it between myself and the bear like a stick.<\/p>\n The bear crashed on top of me, bit my left hand, grabbed my right arm, started\u00a0throwing me around, and shaking me like a rag doll. He then clamped his jaws around my left calf just above the ankle, rotating my entire leg 90 degrees, and began pulling me downhill.<\/p>\n I grabbed a branch, thinking, I\u2019m not going to let this bear drag me off.<\/em><\/p>\n My leg extended unnaturally, and I said to myself, My leg isn\u2019t supposed to move that way.<\/em><\/p>\n The bear bit down on the front of my foot, its canine tooth nicked between my big and little toes\u2014you can still see the jaw marks on my mountain boots.<\/p>\n Then, the bear just dropped my foot and ran off. I\u2019ll never forget its fuzzy brown butt running off into the distance. Time stood still.<\/p>\n Altogether, the encounter lasted no more than 30 seconds. I didn\u2019t see my life flash before my eyes, but I remember thinking, This could be it.<\/em><\/p>\n I screamed for Dan.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t scared of bleeding out, but my arm and leg were mangled. Dan rushed to me\u00a0and built a makeshift brace for my broken wrist, thumb, and arm. My hand was also dislocated. There were major lacerations across my body. I grabbed a stick and attempted to put weight on my knee\u2014it again bent 90 degrees. I later found out that my ACL, MCL, and meniscus were torn. My foot was only held to my lower leg by connective tissue.<\/p>\n Dan and I called search and rescue. It took the teams 45 minutes just to get to us, and I let out a big sigh of relief at the sight of the helicopter. But the terrain and snowfall made landing difficult, so they hoisted me out instead. I spent a week in the hospital, underwent three surgeries, and went through physical therapy for another three months.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t quite run like I used to, but I\u2019m more of a mountain biker anyway. I want to keep playing as long as I can, and I\u2019m thankful my limbs still work.<\/p>\n Nearly every grizzly attack is an act of natural aggression, and in my case, we later learned the bear attacked me during a surprise encounter. I walked into its bedroom, and it rightfully charged me.<\/p>\n![\"Broste](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/bear8-scaled.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)